tug of war
by Jupiter Queen
Summary: No matter what Robin said, Cyborg wouldn't stay complacent as a teammate any longer. He wanted something greater for himself. (Drabble. Set during "Titans East.")


_**Warning**_ _: Mild profanity._

 _ **Note**_ _: Set during Season 3, mainly centered around Cyborg's decision to lead the Titans East._

 _ **A/N**_ _: For those who follow my works, don't worry; I'm still very much in this fandom. I've still got a head full of ideas I want to explore._

 _Similar to my piece on Terra—"with no sense of belonging"—this piece is to get a feel for Cyborg's character. This is practice that I wanted to publish bc I wanted to show love for Cy. He's a great, relatable character and I didn't want to overlook him._

 _Also, he and Robin have an interesting dynamic, what with both of them wanting to lead and only one of them being the actual leader of the Titans, so here's a little exploration of that._

* * *

 _Spiky-haired headass_ , Cyborg huffed after abruptly ending his video chat with Robin. _Always thinks he knows every damn thing_. _He doesn't know squat._

Robin having the audacity to belittle Cyborg's leadership abilities and demand that he return to the Titans in the same breath made him scowl. It was about time for him to realize that Cy was more than a complacent team member. He was more than the long-range attacker in battle. He was more than the tower's resident IT guy.

 _Shit_ , he muttered, _without me they probably wouldn't even have a tower to live in._

He put his blood, sweat, tears, and battery life into building both the tower in Jump City and the tower in Steel City, not to mention the T-Car and the T-Ship. Those weren't easy things to create by any means.

Just because Robin was trained by Batman didn't mean that he was the world's best leader. If anything, he designated himself the leader and everyone else followed along because the world of heroics was foreign to them at the time (save for Beast Boy, who wasn't even sure what to do next after the Doom Patrol). But that was the thing: as the team grew more established, Cyborg observed Robin's ability to lead and what tactics he employed, taking many mental notes. (And, with part of his mind being the cybernetic machine that it was, those notes became analysis which he hoped would become _action_.)

Not too long ago this wasn't his path, but if football couldn't be his future, then— _dammit_ —moving up in the team ranks was going to be the next best thing. He didn't even _have_ to be the leader. He just wanted to be less underutilized and more valued as an equal, maybe even as a second-in-command. He had the age and, since inception of the Teen Titans, gained the experience.

Cyborg sighed. _I know he means well, but he should know I'm coming from._

If Robin of all people couldn't see why he needed to leave and prove himself, then he was being hypocritical. After all, wasn't that the very reason why he left Batman? To stop being treated like a sidekick and show that he was capable of greater things by striking out on his own? To prove that the skills he had gained under Batman could be put to use elsewhere?

It sounded quite familiar.

Of course, not every interaction between Cyborg and the Boy Wonder carried bad blood. If anything, this was the only issue they tended to quarrel about. The two of them had shared some great moments of teamwork during battle and around the tower and in the midst of downtime. Robin was a great leader and an even better friend… which is why it was bittersweet that Cy's time in Jump City had ran its course. Even if their conversation via video call had gotten heated quickly, he had no doubt that he and Robin would fist-bump and make up, just as they always did.

But, this time, there was no going back.

* * *

 _ **A/N**_ _: Basically, Cyborg expands on his reasons for wanting to strike out on his own. Rewatching his story arc from season three, I love the grievances that he has with Robin about power dynamics. It's an interesting thing and I'm not sure if there's other fics out there that really expand on it, but I do find it fascinating. I had to write about Cy. Plus I needed an excuse to write "spiky-haired headass" and get away with it, lmao._


End file.
